BY JENN SAMSEL
Special to the Monitor
Smokey the Bear celebrated his 81st birthday, discussing the importance of prescribed burns and teaching guests about their vital role in maintaining forest health at the Mike Roess Gold Head State Park near Keystone Heights.
The event took place on Saturday, August 9, and featured food trucks, various fire apparatus, a variety of educational vendors, and Smokey the Bear educating families about the dangers of wildfires.
The forestry department ignited a small, one-acre forest fire to demonstrate how quickly fires can start and spread, as well as to teach attendees how to respond in such situations.
The event aimed to educate residents and children on the importance of forest fires and their ecological benefits.
Smokey the Bear made an exciting appearance. Participants took photos during story time and enjoyed cupcakes to celebrate his birthday.
John T. McUmber, Land Manager, Ordway-Swisher Biological Station, said, “We’re conducting a controlled burn today for ecological benefit, wildfire risk reduction, and for educating the public. We can burn in a manner that suits our needs and manipulate the fire in a way that benefits the ecosystem.”
He said one way forestry controls the spread of wildfires is by conducting controlled prescribed burns each year.
“We’ve got boundaries of control lines around this so that the fire is not going to move across the road here, it’s not going to move across any of the trails and we know the weather conditions, we know where the fire wants to move to and we establish those breaks, so we know exactly our little box that it’s going to burn in,” he said.
According to Forestry, lightning strikes are the number one fire starter in Florida forests.
“We appreciate everybody coming out and hope you got to learn a little bit about what Smokey the Bear is about and the safe use of fire,” said Charles Brown, Park Manager, Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park.
